Members of Sydney’s South Sudanese community have expressed their fury at police for claiming ‘African gangs’ are on the rise in the city.
New South Wales Police last week said ‘African gangs’ are responsible for a terrifying spate of robberies.
But youth worker John Garang Kon, who has helped young South Sudanese in the western Sydney suburb of Blacktown, said the robberies have nothing to do with gangs.
Mr Garang Kon said calling the group of youths ‘African gangs’ doesn’t sit well within the community.
He said he doesn’t believe Sydney will experience the same issues with African gang crime as Melbourne, and that the recent incidents have nothing to do with the ethnicity of the alleged offenders.
New South Wales Police last week said ‘African gangs’ are responsible for a terrifying spate of robberies across the city. Pictured: an alleged attempted robbery at an Optus store in Casula Mall in Sydney’s south-west
Sudanese youth worker John Garang Kon (pictured), who has helped young Sudanese people build a life in western Sydney, said the robberies have nothing to do with gangs
‘Calling them an “African Gang” does not sit well with the community because it is not the first time in Australia to see robberies happening,’ Mr Garang Kon told Daily Mail Australia.
He said calling the young people an African gang is ‘really unfortunate’, as it relates the crime to the entire community.
‘It’s just a group of young people who went and did the crimes, and the law can deal with it,’ he said.
Asked whether he believes Sydney will see the same issue as Melbourne, Mr Garang Kon said it would only happen if ‘politicians talk to the media and call them “African Gangs”.’
‘I don’t believe in the notion that there are gangs in Sydney. There are no gangs. These African young people are not related to gangs,’ he said.
‘So they are just young people who have committed a crime and the law have to deal with them. It has nothing to do with their race.
‘In Melbourne, the media called them gangs a few years ago and it has not solved the problem.’
Mr Garang Kon has completed multiple degrees while volunteering and becoming a South Sudanese community leader, and is now awaiting his admission to practice as a lawyer.
Mr Garang Kon said calling the young people an African gang is ‘really unfortunate’ as it relates the crime to the entire community (pictured: members of the South Sudanese community)
Mr Garang Kon’s comments come after NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Jones last week said Strike Force Arpen is working to find a group of Sudanese teens who allegedly targeted electronics stores.
At least 20 stores, including JB Hi-Fi and Bing Lee outlets, were allegedly hit by teenagers taking off with thousands of dollars in goods.
Jones said police were looking for ‘an organised gang of African thieves’ and that he didn’t want to ‘downplay this in any way’.
Four teenagers were arrested earlier this month for allegedly stealing $15,000 worth of electronics at a store in Taren Point in the city’s south.
Assistant Commissioner Mark Jones (pictured) said police are working to track down a group of Sudanese teens who have been targeting electronic stores in the city over the past month
Mr Garang Kon said Sydney would only see the same issue with African crime if ‘politicians talk to the media and call them “African Gangs” (pictured: members of the South Sudanese community)
In a separate incident, police arrested a 24-year-old man for allegedly stealing a speaker from an electronics store at Hornsby in Sydney’s north.
The arrests come after NSW Police announced they were stepping up their investigation into blitz-style robberies targeting electrical stores such as JB Hi-Fi and Bing Lee across Sydney.
Police were called to six robberies in just three days, including three on Saturday June 8 and one at Eastgardens in the eastern suburbs on Sunday June 9.
All the offenders were described as being of African appearance in all of the incidents.
Thieves allegedly intimidated staff before taking off with popular items such as Apple watches, iPhones and MacBooks.
Four teenagers were arrested earlier this month for allegedly stealing $15,000 worth of electronics at a store in Taren Point in the city’s south
Other recent robberies occurred in Rhodes, Strathfield, Rouse Hill, Campbelltown, Carlingford, Chatswood and Burwood.
Police said it was too early to say whether the recent incidents were linked to the alleged attempted robbery of an Optus store in Sydney’s south-west in April.
An innocent elderly bystander was seriously injured after a group of up to 15 African teens allegedly stormed an Optus store at Casula Mall.
Police alleged staff confronted the teens after they began pulling on items attached to the display by security cables, in an act captured on store CCTV.
Previously, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton refused to identify Melbourne’s problem as an ‘African’ gang crisis.
In an interview last year he said the youth crime was not limited to one ethnic group.
‘We’ve certainly had a lot of young Africans, Australian kids offending as well, Islander kids, a lot of indigenous kids we’re getting as well.’
African youths are believed to be responsible for a spate of recent robberies, including an alleged attempted robbery at an Optus store at Sydney’s Casula Mall in April (pictured)
Melbourne has been dealing with violence relating to African street gangs such as Alex and Menace to Society for years.
Ugly scenes involving African youths and the wider community have erupted on numerous occasions in Melbourne, with politicians slamming Victoria Police for a lack of action.
In January, a gang of white teenagers armed with baseball bats targeted a group of African youths as part of a revenge attack for an earlier alleged bashing.
It’s understood the teenagers were searching for a gang of 30 youths who allegedly beat and robbed two teenagers at Wyndham Vale train station, south-west of Melbourne.
There were also violent clashes in January between far-right and anti-racism protesters on Melbourne’s St Kilda Beach.
Ugly scenes involving African youths and the wider community have erupted on numerous occasions in Melbourne in the past months
Police said a gang which calls themselves the Blood Drill Killers are linked to numerous crimes in the city’s west in recent months
Right-wing activists, some of whom gave Nazi salutes, billed the protest as a demonstration to ‘take back Melbourne’ from African gangs.
On Christmas Eve, a 46-year-old man was hospitalised with cuts to his face after African youths allegedly attacked the Song Huong Vietnamese restaurant in St Albans, north-west of the Melbourne CBD.
The previous day, 20 youths armed with baseball bats threw tables and chairs at patrons outside B&D Kitchen next door to Song Huong, with some Vietnamese locals threatening reprisals.
Police said a gang calling themselves the Blood Drill Killers were linked to numerous crimes in the city’s west in recent months.
The gang is comprised of African-Australian boys aged between 14 to 17 and is a breakaway group with links to Apex and Menace to Society.